Part 7 (1/2)
Andra led the charge.
Her short, dark hair was dusty, and her blue eyes were bloodshot, like they got when she'd been funneling too much of Paul's power. Apparently, they'd just gotten back from a Synestryn killing spree and hadn't even bothered to clean up yet.
If Andra found out that Nika had taken the bone, she'd flip out and take it back to that stranger's grave. Nika couldn't let that happen. ”Where have you been?” Andra asked, her voice clipped with thinly controlled anger.
Nika gripped the bone tighter. She still had Madoc's jacket on, which hid her treasure. ”I just wanted to get out for a while. Go for a drive.”
”A drive?” asked Andra. She stepped forward. She was more than half a foot taller than Nika was, at least in those boots, and she seemed to loom over Nika. ”You don't have a license. How do you even know how to drive?”
”TV,” said Nika, rather than give Andra the truth. Madoc had seemed freaked-out by her method of learning things, so it was best if she kept that little tidbit to herself.
Andra let out a short, frustrated sigh. ”I get that you're feeling better now, and I can't tell you how glad I am that you are, but you cannot go running off like that without telling someone. You scared us.”
Nika looked down the line of people. Paul was there, of coursea”all tall and handsome. He never left Andra's side if he could help it. And Joseph was there, too. He looked more tired than normal, which was saying something. His shoulders sagged under the burden of leaders.h.i.+p, and his hazel eyes were rimmed with fatigue.
As the leader of the Theronai, it must have been his job to add to the scolding.
There were also two men there she didn't recognize. One had dark skin and eyes and a quiet stillness about him. He seemed to fade into the shadow of the other paler, thinner man. They both wore the luminescent bands around their throats and matching rings on their fingers that told her they were also Theronaia”probably here to paw at her and see if she made their rings turn colors.
Just the thought was enough to make her skin crawl. The blisters from the last group of men who wanted to see if she was ”the one” had just finished healing. She wasn't looking forward to another round of torture.
All she wanted to do was get her bone to Tynan and make him tell her what she already knew: It didn't belong to Tori. The fastest way to make that happen was to play along. Nika stared at her dirty shoes, hoping she looked contrite. ”I'm sorry, Andra. I didn't mean to worry you.”
Andra sighed, releasing all her bl.u.s.ter. ”I know you didn't, baby. Let's go get you cleaned up.”
Nika cringed at her sister's infantile endearment, but refused to make an issue out of it here in front of all these people. Andra had taken care of her for years. Getting out of the habit wasn't something Nika could expect her to do overnight. Still, she had to make a stand so her sister wouldn't trample all over her wishes with those hard-core boots of hers. ”I don't need any help showering or changing clothes.”
”You look like you're about to fall over.”
”I'm fine. Please just let me be. I am an adult, you know.”
Paul stepped up and put his thick arm around Andra's waist. ”She looks fine to mea”just a bit dirty. We can check on her later, okay?”
”Are you sure?” Andra asked Nika. ”I don't mind helping.”
”I'm sure. I'll get cleaned up, then meet you wherever you like for blister duty.”
Joseph stiffened at that. Behind him, the strange men shared some kind of secret, silent macho-speak.
Joseph scrubbed a hand through his hair. ”Look, Nika, if you're not up to meeting the men, I'll make them wait until another day.”
Nika shook her head. ”I'd rather get it over with. Just give me an hour, okay?” She was sure that would be enough time to wash off the mud, get her bone to one of the Sanguinar, and be back before anyone knew what she was up to.
”Fine,” said Andra, ”but if you need me, call, okay? We're going to finish up here with Joseph; then I'll be back to the suite to help if you need it before we have to head back out.”
Nika nodded. She really needed her own place, but now didn't seem like the best time to bring it up. She'd won one battle, and that was as much as she could hope for in a day. Besides, if Andra was leaving again today, her meddling wouldn't last long.
Joseph, Paul, and Andra turned to go the opposite way, but one of the strangers held back, watching her. He had light hair that had been shaved down to his skin, with only a fraction of an inch of stubble showing. He was taller than his companion and less heavily muscled. There was a hungry look on his facea”one she'd seen too many times over the past few months not to recognize it. He was in pain and he thought she could make it stop.
Nika stilled as a familiar fear slid through her. She willed herself to run, but her muscles had clamped down, holding her still like a frozen little bunny. Time slowed.
She tried to breathe through the fear, but it did no good. His hand was stretching out, reaching for her.
A high, pitiful noise spilled out from Nika's mouth.
The man beside hima”the second strangera”saw what was happening and grabbed the other man's arm in a tight grip. ”Not yet. You heard Joseph.”
At the sound of his name, Joseph stopped and turned around, along with Paul and Andra. ”Don't!” shouted her sister. ”You're scaring her.”
Joseph's big body shot through the air and slammed into the pair of men, knocking them both into the wall. They landed in a pile of thick arms and legs.
Nika shoved at her fear hard and fought it down enough to flee. She turned to run, but had forgotten all about the bone. It fell from her coat, clattering onto the hard tile. The small, child-sized leg bone lay there, dull and bleak against the glossy floor.
Andra's eyes zeroed in on the bone, widening in shock and revulsion. ”How could you?” she whispered. ”How could you desecrate Tori's grave?”
Nika knew that nothing she could say would make her sister forgive her. They'd argued over this too many times to count. Andra knew she'd buried their baby sister. Nika knew she was still alive. There was no room for compromise here. None.
”I'm sorry you had to see that,” said Nika. She bent, picked up the bone, hid it from sight, and ran away. No words would fix the pain and grief and guilt lingering in Andra's eyes.
Nothing would except proving Tori was alive.
Andra bit her lip to stave off the tears that burned her eyes. She would not cry in front of strangers.
She'd thought Nika was getting better. She'd started eating again. She'd gained weight. The bouts of dizziness and weakness had grown farther and farther apart. She was even pus.h.i.+ng at the boundaries Andra had seta”a sure sign she was getting healthier, stronger.
At least, that was what Andra had thought.
The fact that Nika would resort to digging up their dead sister's bones proved just how wrong Andra had been.
”She really is crazy,” said Andra.
Paul's strong arm came around her, and she leaned into him, soaking up the comfort he offered. He pulled her away from the others and s.h.i.+elded her with his body to afford her a bit of privacy. ”It's only been a few months. You need to give her some time. Let her pursue this course if she needs to.”
A wave of revulsion made Andra s.h.i.+ver. ”She's carrying around our dead sister's bones. It's disgusting.”
”I know, but if it's the only way she'll give up her delusion, then it's worth it, isn't it? Do you really think Tori would begrudge Nika the proof she needs to heal?”
”No. Tori would have given Nika anything. She was generous and loving to a fault. But that doesn't excuse this. I told her she couldn't do this. I told her it wasn't fair to Tori that after almost nine years of lying in that cave, our sister's remains are no longer safe in the cemetery, next to Mom's.”
”We already know Nika's going to take Tori's remains to one of the Sanguinar to see if they can identify them. I'll talk to Tynan and make sure he understands the situation. I'm sure he'll treat this with as much care and reverence as possible.”
Andra was sickened by the thought, but what could she do? She knew that if she took the bone back and buried it, Nika would only slip away again later to steal it. And next time, she might not come back in one piece.
She had to let this happen, no matter how much it bothered her. As disgusting as it was, it beat the heck out of burying another sister. ”Fine. Talk to Tynan. Tell him to hurry up. I want Tori to rest in peace. She deserves at least that much.”
Nika's hair was still wet from her shower when she knocked on Tynan's door. She heard him shuffling around inside his apartment, but it took him a long time to open the door.
Tynan cracked the door open. He was s.h.i.+rtless, wearing only a loose pair of cotton pants. A curl of glossy black hair fell over his forehead, nearly hiding one icy blue eye.
”Can I come in?” she asked him.